


Smiles, Scars

by fortheloveoflestrade



Category: Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)
Genre: F/M, Post-Movie, because we are not given enough for zia and mikal, my version of what follows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5800411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveoflestrade/pseuds/fortheloveoflestrade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Returning from the dead wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. </p>
<p>Mikal helped, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smiles, Scars

Returning from the dead wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. 

Mikal helped, of course.

Both of us were held for several days’ observation. After I got my parents to go home, Mikal and I just laid in our beds all night talking, until we were so tired we fell asleep. I can’t remember who closed their eyes first. 

Near the end, when my parents finally got me released into their custody, Mikal told me she had the doctor put her in a rehab program. She said that once the drugs were out of her system, she would come find me.

I told her to stay as long as she needed. And then she kissed me.

It was so much better here. Mikal smiled all the time. I think I did, too. I think it confused my parents a lot—a son who just attempted suicide who is suddenly smiling and best friends with his overdosed roommate. 

They didn’t say anything, though.

Mikal ended up staying in rehab for about a week before she checked herself out and showed up on my doorstep.

She looked tired, but still smiling. And so she started staying with me.

Almost every night, we’d stay up talking about life, about death, about Eugene and Kneller, until she fell asleep next to me. 

She looked so peaceful in her sleep, the tip of her thumb between her lips. Every day, I felt myself falling more and more in love with Mik.

During the day, though, she was gone a lot. I managed to find a new job, but Mikal always came home after me. 

Eventually, one night, she didn’t come home.

I was worried about her, but she was an adult. She could make her own choices. She was gone for three days before she showed up on my doorstep again, high and crying.

I put her to bed, and as she was falling asleep she made me promise to take her back to rehab. She kept apologizing, over and over again until she slipped under.

I stayed up all night , watching her sleep fitfully. 

The next day, I drove her back to rehab. She hugged me for a really long time, and then disappeared inside.

She called every day for two months. I visited her once a week, too.

She looked better every time I saw her, and she was almost always smiling.

A few weeks before she finished her treatment I told her, “You know, you don’t have to smile, if you don’t want to. I know it was hard before, and I love it when you smile, but it’s okay to not want to smile, sometimes.”

She cried. I did, too. After that, she didn’t really smile as much, but when she did, she was radiant.

Eventually she came back home. To celebrate, we went to the beach.

I told her about Desiree. She told me about Heroin.

After that, life was good. Better than before, because Mikal and I were the same. We knew each other better than anyone else.

It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t need to be. Life wasn’t supposed to be perfect. I knew that now.

We both still had scars. But it was okay, because we also had each other.

And that was more than enough.


End file.
